Louies Cafe

 

Louie's Cafe is a brunch restaurant located at Leavenworth in Washington State.  It has several brunch menus such as omelet and toast.  Louie's Cafe is not located at the main street of Leavenworth.  Instead, it is located at a more quiet street that is 2 streets down from the main street.

We got to Louie's Cafe around noon after the parade.  When we got to Louie's Cafe, we were a bit confused because there were 3 doors at the restaurant.  We were not sure which door to use.  The sign on the door indicated to wait outside to be seated and thus we waited for a minute and then the waitress greeted us to bring us to our table.  The waitress took us through the door on the left but we figured that both left and right door should be the same.  We were just not sure what the middle door was for.

We ordered a Denver Omelet and a Veggie Omelet.  There was not a choice for the side since all omelets would come with harsh brown as the side.  After 5-10 minutes, the omelets were here.  The harsh brown was made into rectangular shape, which was interesting.  We tried the harsh brown but found it to be more salty than we liked.  The omelets however, were quite decent.  We think the omelets were made with egg only and no added flour.  So it didn't feel very stuffed after finishing it.  The ingredients used in the omelets were also very fresh.

Overall, Louie's Cafe was a decent and cozy brunch place.  It was not very busy because it was not on the main street.  The only downside was that the choice on the menu was more limited.

Manashtash Ridge

 

Manashtash Ridge is a hiking trail near Ellensburg in Washington state. The trail itself is only 1.9 miles long but has steep inclines at several places.  The trail goes all the way up to the summit of the Manashtash Ridge and takes hikers through the bushes along the ridge.  This trail does not require any permit and thus no prove of payment is required.

We got to Manashtash Ridge trail head early in the morning around 8AM.  There were already a lot of cars there but there were still parking spaces available on the right side of Cove Road.  The start of the trail was quite mild and not very steep.  We were quite enjoying the trail at the start with the sun over our heads.

After about 10 minutes, the trail started to climb steeply.  This was our first hike of the season and it was taking us out of breath quickly.  As we hiked half way through the trail and reached middle point of the ridge, the wind started to blow really hard.  It became extremely all of a sudden and the wind was blowing our hats away.

We got to the top of the ridge after about an hour and it was unbelievably windy.  Although it was windy, the view at the top was still undeniably beautiful.  We could see the wildflowers on the hill side and see the snowy mountains on the far side.  There was a large wooden log placed near the edge of the hill, we sat there for a while and enjoyed the view.

Manashtash Ridge was an interesting hiking trail, but it could get very tiring due to no shade along the trail.  Thus if the weather is very hot, it could get exhausting very quickly.

Leavenworth Reindeer Farm

 

Leavenworth Reindeer Farm is a very popular tourist attraction at Leavenworth in Washington State. Leavenworth Reindeer Farm is located just few minutes North of Leavenworth downtown area. The farm offers unique experiences to interact with reindeers and have a close look at the reindeers. The farm offer tours in the morning during the summer season to avoid the heat in the afternoon.

We booked our tour appointment at 11:30AM but we got to Leavenworth Reindeer Farm a bit early at 10:30AM. Luckily, we were able to join the tour at 11AM so that we did not have to wait for longer time.  As we entered the farm, there were chickens running around and 2 large turkeys staring at us. We were a bit scared of the turkeys.  The little girl at the table waved at us to pick out the food to feed the chicken.  Each guest can have a bowl of food to feed them.

After feeding the chicken, we went to check out the gift shop. The gift shop was decorated with Christmas theme with lot of Christmas lights in the barn.  It felt quite cozy in there and very pretty.  There was also a dedicated area for Santa photo but it looked like it'll only be available during the winter season.

Going across the gift shop is where the waiting area is at. We waited there 5 minutes before the tour started.  Before the tour started, the guide went through safety rules.  Although reindeers are very friendly, little kids still need to stay far away from reindeers.

We then headed to the shed where the guide went over the history of Leavenworth Reindeer Farm.  The reindeers at the farm were shipped from Alaska.  It was very difficult to ship reindeers from Alaska to Washington as Canada would not allow reindeers to be transported across its border. So the first few reindeers were shipped by boat.  The newer ones were shipped on cargo plane.

After going over the history of the farm and the reindeer, it was finally the time to feed the reindeers!  Each guest was given a fresh branch of leaves to feed the reindeer, and also a small bowl of food to feed the reindeers.  As we entered the fenced the area, we were asked to raise our arm so that the reindeer couldn't reach the tree leaves.

When we fed the reindeers, the reindeers were tucking the leaves so we had to hold onto the tree branch very tightly.  Then we put the food on our palm to feed the reindeers.  The reindeer mouth felt very very soft.  We could feel its tongue and lip tickling our hands.

We also saw few baby reindeers.  They were so cute.  There was a baby reindeer that was abandoned by its mother and it is currently being bottle fed.  So it was by itself and not with the herd.  We were able to pet it and its fur was so soft.

Overall, this was an amazing experience at Leavenworth Reindeer Farm.  We really enjoyed it a lot and would definitely come back again.  This place is highly recommended when visiting Leavenworth.

Eagle Creek Trail

 

Eagle Creek Trail is a very popular hiking trail along Columbia River gorge. The trail was severely damaged during the forest fire few year ago, but the trail has been restored since then. The total distance of the trail is about 25 miles and quite long. Most people hike to Tunnel Falls, which is about 12 miles round trip. The trail takes hikers along the creek and pass by several waterfalls and wildflowers. The trailhead is about an hour East of Portland.

We went for a hike at Eagle Creek on this hot Friday during Spring. By the time we got to the trailhead around 8:30AM, the parking lot is about half full.  We parked the car a little bit down the road but not too far from the trailhead.

The trail was filled with fist sized rocks and was a little difficult to walk on. We had to be careful when stepping on lose rocks and had to make sure we don't roll the ankles. Along the trail we could see the sign of forest fire. Many trees were burnt down into charcoals.

The trail also went along the cliff side with steep drop off on one side. There were steel cables on the rock wall for people to hold on to. Since it was still Spring, there was a lot of water drizzling down the cliff wall.

After about an hour, we got to Punch Bowl Fall. The waterfall pours into a bowl like pond. The amount of water flowing through was incredible. Many people took rest here and head back from here, but we went further on since our goal was to get to Tunnel Fall.

The Tunnel Fall was a lot further and the second half of the trail did not have as much shade. So it was getting quite hot. As we approached closer to our final destination, we came to the place where we had to cross the stream of water. Due to the amount of snow Portland got this year, the water level was much higher and current was quite strong. A few people simply hiked through the stream with wet shoes. We debated a bit and decided not to go further and went back.  This was unfortunate as we did not prepare for this.

Eagle Creek was definitely one of the best hike along Columbia Gorge. We will definitely do it again when the water level is lower and will definitely get to Tunnel Falls next time.

Banana Leaf

Banana Leaf is a very popular restaurant at Milpitas. It specializes in Malaysian cuisine such as the famous Roti for example. We loved the Malaysian hawker food when we visited Orlando last time, thus we really wanted to try Malaysian food again whenever we have the chance.

We got to Banana Leaf at 5PM, just when the restaurant has just opened. The restaurant was quite big and had open kitchen concept. The menu was on the huge QR code placed at the top of the table. We didn't see any physical menus.

We ordered Roti Prata, Red Beef Curry, Banana Leaf Rice, and Hainan Chicken Rice. The Roti came very quickly. This is something that we have been craving for. The Roti came with the curry dipping sauce, however, we found that the Roti was not hot and was too crispy and breaking apart.

The Red Beef Curry was quite good. We loved the curry taste. The Red Beef Curry also had many different other ingredients in the curry such as tofu. It was full of surprise. The Hainan Chicken rice was amazing too. The chicken meat was very tender and the sauce was sweet and savory at the same time. Banana Leaf Rice came with coconut flavored rice and rendang chicken. The rendang chicken was very flavorful, just as much flavor as curry.

We really loved the food at Banana Leaf and wish we had chance to try more items on its menu. The only let down was the Roti and hope it would be better next time and served warm in the future.
 

Sifu Wong Kitchen

 

Sifu Wong Kitchen is a Cantonese restaurant located in Sunnyvale. It serves Cantonese Dim Dum dishes. It has a wide variety of Dim Sum dishes with 4 different prices tags for each individual dish. Other than Dim Dum dish, people can also order larger portion of food from the kitchen such as fried rice and noodle.

We got there around 11AM when the restaurant just opened. As we sat down the table, we first ordered the tea from the 4 different tea options. At Sifu Wong Kitchen, they don't push Dim Sum carts around for people to pick the dish. Instead, we were given a menu selection sheet to select what we want to order. We ordered 10 dishes in total including pork rib, pineapple bun, Sui Mai, shrimp dumpling, rice roll, and others.

All these food were made fresh and we did wait for some time to get the food served to our table. The food tasted very fresh. One of the biggest surprise to us was the pineapple bun. Inside the pineapple bun, it was purple yam instead of custard. We have never seen this before.

The black salty egg yolk bun was really good too. The bun was in black color with a tad of gold color tapped at the top of the bun. The bun may be made with black sesame. As we took a bite, the yolk was so hot and dripping out.

The rice roll was an amazing addition as well. The rice roll was freshly made and it was so hot. The roll was so soft. Then it was mixed with the sweet soy sauce, the texture and the taste was just right. This really shows how important it is to have freshly made food.

Overall, we really enjoyed the food at Sifu Wong Kitchen. We have not had such authentic Dim Sum food for a while. Sifu Wong Kitchen has really shown us how Dim Sum Should be made. We would definitely come back here again if we have the chance in the future.

Duan Chun Zhen

 

Duan Chun Zhen is a restaurant that specializes in Taiwanese Beef Noodle. Duan Chun Zhen is the name of the founder of the restaurant and already has several restaurants in Taiwan. It also has 2 restaurants in US and both of them are in California. We went to the one at Cupertino, right beside Apple's campus.

As we walk into the restaurant, the interior decoration caught our eyes. It was bright and has a clean feel to it. Every table already has menus and utensils places correctly on the table. A clear glass water bottle was also placed on the table.

The menu has a lot more items than just beef noodle. There were various appetizers and also rice dish. There were also different type of noodles that people can choose from. These 3 types of noodles are thin, thick, and hand made noodles.We ordered the recommended beef noodle with tenderloin with hand made noodle. On top of that, we also got a place of braised dish platter.

The braised dish platter was put in a black plastic container, which was quite cheap. The amount of food in the braised dish platter includes bean curd, tempura, seaweed, and beef. Each came with about 6 small pieces, which was very little. We were definitely not impressed by this.

The beef noodle was placed in a nice looking custom made bow with Duan Chun Zheng printed on it. At the first glance, we didn't even see any noodle since it was under the soup. As we dig in, the amount of noodle in the bowl was disappointingly little. The soup, however, was tasty. Unlike the usually Taiwanese beef noodle, this one has Sichuan pepper corn in it which gives some spicy kick in it.

Overall, we were disappointed with Duan Chun Zhen because it actually had good reviews. The food taste was not the best and the amount of food given was quite little. The cost was high for the amount of food given. We would not recommend to go to Duan Chun Zhen if beef noodle soup is what people are looking for.

Crepe Cafe

 

Crepe Cafe is a bakery snack restaurant located at Pier 39 in San Francisco. As its name suggests, it specializes in Fresh Crepes and offers variety of crepe flavors. The flavors include both sweet and savory options. There are many seafood restaurants at Pier 39, but Crepe Cafe is the only place that sells crepes. Thus it has attracted many customers who were visiting Pier 39.

When we got there around 12PM, there wasn't a line yet since most people were having lunch at this time. The wall at the side of the restaurant were clear glass where people can see the making of the crepe directly. Many people stood by the wall and watch. We actually saw an interesting crepe with cheese, pineapple, and ham in there. This was just like Hawaiian flavored pizza.

We then ordered a nutella banana crepe. This is definitely a classic and we would love to try it. The crepe was not cheap however. It cost $13 for the crepe. After we made the payment, we just went to the side of the glass and watched our crepe getting made.

The crepe was made rather quickly and it was done within 5 minutes. The crepe was put on a paper plate, then sugar powder was poured on top of the crepe and whip cream was added on the side.

The crepe was crisp and soft at the same time. It was done perfectly. We used knife and fork to cut the crepe into small pieces, and we really loved it. The whip cream was very fresh as well. We could really enjoy the sweetness of the ingredients and the tenderness of the crepe.

Crepe Cafe is definitely a great place to go for dessert after a big seafood lunch. The only downside was that the cost was a little high, but the cost is usually high at tourist area.